“And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, I am the LORD your God. You shall not do as they do in the land of Egypt, where you lived, and you shall not do as they do in the land of Canaan, to which I am bringing you. You shall not walk in their statutes. You shall follow my rules and keep my statutes and walk in them.” Leviticus 18.1-4

God does not intend that His people should be ignorant of the beliefs and ways of those beyond the pale of faith. He simply insists that we remain pure and untainted from the practices those ways promote.

The best way to ensure that the people of God will reflect in their practices the very character of God Himself (Lev. 19.2) is to teach them to do the Law of God. When the homes of God’s people are structured in such a way as to provide formal and informal instruction in that Law, in the context of God’s presence and blessing, with appropriate instruction, affirmation, and guidance, the likelihood is greater that moral and spiritual purity and the holiness – without which no one shall see the Lord – will result.

In such an environment it will be possible for young people to study and learn a variety of subjects, many of them originating beyond the pale of faith, without themselves being tainted by practices which offend the holiness of God. Instead, learners will be able to recognize intellectual positions and worldviews that oppose the knowledge of God, and they will be able to “demolish” these and their effects, at the same time, discovering and taking captive for Christ any useful ideas that may exist among unbelieving worldviews, and maintaining the kind of purity of life that befits the followers of Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 10.3-5).

With the Law of God as the foundation of the home, families may expect to know many fruitful conversations about current trends in culture, morality, and thought, and will find such conversations to be useful in reinforcing the truth of God’s Word and the reasonableness of the life of faith and obedience. Thus the home becomes both a principle forge of godliness as well as an armory for equipping young people to do battle in the world of ideas beyond the home.

For a practical guide to the role of God’s Law in the life of faith, get The Ground for Christian Ethics by going to www.ailbe.org and click on our Book Store.